Halo 2 point 5 The Calm Before the Storm
by Razgriz3
Summary: the Spartans on reach are trapped in a slipspace world. john is on his way back to earth. there was a second spartan 2 program and only ten spartans survived. only five remain and they are sent on a mission to save the others on Onyx, but they don't know.
1. Chapter 1

"Hold!" Yelled Omega teams leader. The five Spartans forced the three jackals back with suppression fire. Jason lobbed a grenade into the hallway as two brutes turned the corner. The five Spartans ducked behind what little cover they had as the grenade detonated. Shrapnel and two corpses launch through the air. The unprotected backs of the three jackals tore open from the storm of shrapnel.

"Command, this is Omega team. Mission successful, the enemy has been stone walled."

Their mission had been to stop a covenant force from taking a military supply base outside London. They had succeeded but it had cost their team greatly. Six of them had been sent on the mission and now only five were going to return.

A battalion of U.N.S.C. marines were on there way to this position and would arrive in seven minutes. They had to get out of here by then. They had very strict orders to not be seen by any U.N.S.C. personnel. This was all do to the fact that they technically didn't exist. Spatch and Nate took up firing positions to cover the team in the open as Nick radioed in for a pickup. Spartan 221 leaned against a wall looking into the sky. She didn't hide her emotions well because Jason noticed the slightest changes in her movements. Jason reached over his back and placed his MA5B assault rifle to the magnetic plates. He slowly walked over to where Christian's body lay prone on the ground. He had been hit in the face by a sniper as he covered their retreat. All of them had a sense of family with each other and this loss hurt them all, but it hurt Stephanie the most because she and Christian were actual family. They were fraternal twins who both had been selected for the Spartan 2 program.

Stephanie would never voice her pains because of her training but it still hurt her to loose him, maybe even more so then one of her other comrades. Jason slid his arm around Christian's body and lifted him up over his shoulder. They couldn't leave any trace of them here.

"Incoming pick up, six o clock." Nick said over team com. Jason's green status light winked on in Nick's H.U.D. telling him he understood. The Pelican transport dove into the courtyard. Its thrusters screamed as the pilot slowed the crafted and steadied it. Nate and Spach ran to the Pelican and jumped in. Jason ran up to it and handed them Christian then got in himself. He turned around wondering what was taking Steph and Nike so long. They both stood around a pile of rubble that started to glow red. Jason reached for his assault rifle.

The ground melted away and Nike and Steph put 30 rounds into the face of a surviving brute. They then turned and ran for the Pelican. The marine had to have been close enough to see the transport leave but Jason knew they would never know what it was transporting. The Earth was being over run and everyone knew it but the remaining Spartans wouldn't stop fighting.

The Pelican rose at an 80-degree incline towards space. The five Spartans stood holding onto handrails as the ship left the atmosphere. In space the battle had died down significantly. The U.N.S.C. had some how managed to force hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The 22 ships turned the tide of battle in space. The Covenant had lost more then half its ships to the orbital M.A.C. guns.

Waiting in space for team Omega was a prowler class vessel named the _Anatole_. It was a prototype that used reflective mirrors to enhance its stealth ability. The Spartans never liked being in space but they had no choice. The _Anatole_ was a good ship but it could hardly defend itself if it was engaged in combat.

The Spartan Pelican pulled into the only hanger the _Anatole_ had. The ship was bigger than a standard prowler class but the only difference it had was that it had a drop pod launcher aboard. The drop pods were usually an O.D.S.T.'s way from ship to planet but because of the defenselessness of the _Anatole _had it so the Spartans aboard had a way out if the ship was ever in danger of falling. The Spartans exited the back of the Pelican and stood at attention.

"Spartans, take all you gear to the armory and load up, then report back to the hanger." Jason yelled this over team COM. They all saluted and left the room. Jason turned around and walked back into the Pelican and picked up his dead comrade. He carried him out and put him down then opened his team roster and labeled Christian as DIA.

"Spartan 201 report to the Bridge."

Jason wondered why they had called him to the bridge. He turned and ran out the door. He punched in the code to the express elevator and got in. He keyed the location into the computer and the elevator shot up.

The doors opened and Jason walked to the end and waited for the Captain to call him over. The bridge was a buzz with movement. Officers ran from computer to computer tapping in commands. If Jason didn't know any better he would have figured they were getting ready for a fight.

"Spartan 201." Jason ran to the Captain as he called out his name. He saluted the Captain.

"At ease specialist." Jason's stance didn't change he just moved his right foot out a half inch. "We have some bad news. At 0900 hours the Covenant first appeared in space around the earth." Jason knew this but he listened anyway. "At 0920 hours we engaged the main covenant fleet. They out numbered us 4 to 1, our fleet normally wouldn't have survived the engagement but because of the orbital M.A.C. platforms the battle wasn't a total slaughter. At 1032 hours our fleet of 142 ships had been reduced to 37 and of the 25 orbital M.A.C. guns only ten remained. The covenant's battle fleet consisted of 276 ships still vastly out numbering our own. Our ships formed up around the M.A.C. platforms and prepared for an attack, but at approximately 1042 hours more then half the covenant fleet jumped out of system, leaving only 98 ships behind. We only have speculations as to why they left but we believe that it may have something to do with a secret operation on the planet Onyx. Twenty minutes after the majority of the covenant fleet left the system the remaining ships engaged our fleet. The battle was grim and more then half of our ships were destroyed. The covenant fleet almost pushed through the line when a second battle group showed up. This new fleet was commanded by Admiral Dancrof he moved his fleet behind the advancing covenant fleet. With these reinforcements we managed to push back the covenant. They currently are behind the moon regrouping for another attack. We are not going to be here for the party. Omega team will go on a mission to rescue certain priority figures from the planet Onyx. I just figured I should inform you of the whole situation before we embark because the Admiralty has given me orders to send you where I think fit; I personally believe you should make the choice where your men go." Jason knew that the earth would need them to defend it if the covenant broke through the line. They already had troops on the ground, that were proving to be trouble for the marine defenders, but he knew that the Spartans would be useless in a naval battle.

The Captain wanted a decision now and Jason knew it. "Sir, permission to take on the Onyx mission."

"The mission file will be sent to you en route to the planet, but I have a partial mission report that I can give you now."

Captain Mitchell reached over to the Captain's chair and pushed a button. A small message icon appeared in the top left corner of Jason's H.U.D.

"We will embark immediately. That will be all." Jason saluted and left the bridge.

Going down the elevator he opened the mission file.

Mission top priority

Classification: Top Secret

Code word encryption: none

Planet: Onyx

Data Collected: Proteus sensor outpost

Transmission intercepted: From Planet A.I. (see attached file) Basic outline was a warning to all U.N.S.C. personnel on the emergency E band. Possible Covenant threat and possible Non-Covenant threat.

Scan of Planet Summary: The planet was covered with alien drones (see attached file referring to Sentinel) Covenant fleet amassed over planet. Very strange slipspace anomaly in planets core. Planet Side A.I.'s last message came and said as followed. "This is U.N.S.C. A.I. serial number 01593, Surviving U.N.S.C. personnel traveled to planet core (See attached files on movement) there they found a rupture in space. Some kind of haven for the forerunners. They passed through this field and disappeared from radar. Possible rescue unknown. "(See attached files for possible rescue.)

Jason didn't know what his team was supposed to do. From what he got out of the file it seemed to him that they didn't even know if their targets were still alive. The doors opened and he walked towards the hanger. An alarm started to sound and Jason ran for the hanger. The sound signaled all hands to battle stations. This meant that something bad had happened to the fleet if a prowler was being sent in to help.

He came to a stop as he entered the hanger and saw his squad looking around confused. He walked over and opened a COM channel with them.

"We have a new mission. All the information I can give you is in the file I just sent to you."

Jason turned his head as the ship dove to the right. A tiny picture of the Captain appeared in Jason H.U.D. "Spartan 201 we are under attack, the fleet moved towards the moon to attack the advancing covenant when three Covenant destroyers appeared out of slipspace 300 meters off our bow. All ships near by have orders to do anything they can to stop those ships from destroying the orbital platforms. I am ordering you to abandon ship. You are to take the prototype Black wing transport and proceed with your mission. Good luck and God speed."

Jason looked at the craft in the corner of the hanger. It was a streamline ship about the size of a long sword fighter craft. It was the smallest ship to have a slipspace generator. It was designed for stealth so it only had minimal weapon capabilities.

"Omega team grab all your gear and load it into the Black wing on the double!" Jason yelled. The Spartans grabbed their equipment and ran. Jason ran for the gun rack on the wall and grabbed two MA5B assault rifles and a BR 23 battle rifle. His team loaded all their equipment and ran off to get the second supply. Jason ran on board and placed his weapons on the ground behind the others weapons. Nick ran on and placed the last crate of ammo he had down. He ran for the cockpit and sat in the chair. The ship was made specifically for them so his Mjolnir mark 6 armor fit perfectly.

Jason ran to the back of the ship as Nick started to run it through its preflight. The rest of Omega team ran up the ramp and secured the equipment for the flight. Jason hit the ramp lift and ran into the cockpit. He sat down in the copilot seat and strapped himself in. The rest of the Spartans sat in the seats lining the wall in the troop compartment and prepared for the flight.

They didn't know what was going on but they followed Jason's orders regardless. The ships engines started to ignite as the _Anatole _launched to the left. This time sirens blared, the ship had been hit. Jason looked at Nick and he knew what he meant. In that little signal Nick caught that Jason wanted them to get out of there now. The Black wing rose from the deck and turned around to face the hanger door. Another collision rocked the ship and the power went out.

Nick keyed in the doors open code but nothing happened.

"Sir, the doors won't open!" Jason knew what was happening, the ships reactor was over loading. The power from all none essential systems were being purged to relieve some of the stress on the core. He had only one option; Jason ran for the weapon controls and aimed the crosshairs over the door. He pulled the trigger and two 30 mm machine guns tore through the door. The air inside the shuttle bay launched into space for a second until the second blast doors fell.

Jason squeezed the trigger and the 30 mm rounds bounced off of the blast door. He hadn't accounted for a blast door being automatically dropped if the door was breached. He turned to Nick in the pilot seat. He wasn't sure if the ship would be able to ram through the door without being damaged.

Captain Mitchell held onto his command chair as another impact shook the ship.

"Status report." Captain Mitchell yelled to Second Lieutenant Geary.

"Sir, engines are down, reactor is overloading, all weapons are inoperable, and we have massive hull breaches throughout the ship."

They were done for. The _Anatole _was now nothing more then a floating bucket. His ship was going down and he and everyone aboard were going with it. He had already ordered all hands to evacuate the ship but almost no escape pods left. There wasn't any way the crew could get to the escape pods with all the hull breaches.

"Have the Spartan team made the transition to slipspace yet?" he asked Lieutenant Geary.

"Sir, most of the radar systems are down so I can't be sure but I don't have any record of them on my screens."

How can that be, Mitchell thought. As long as they left the ship their IFS transponders should have left a….

"Get me a camera feed of the shuttle bay now!"

Lieutenant Geary quickly typed commands into her computer. "Video feed established."

Captain Mitchell stood in horror. The Spartans ship hovered in front of a blast door. They hadn't even been able to get off the ship.

"How much time until reactor overload?"

"Two minutes and thirty seconds."

"Get me all possible power to that door and open it."

Jason opened a COM with Nick and was about to voice his plan when the red light on top of the door started flashing. Jason sat back into his seat and strapped in as the blast door started to open. A text message appeared in front of Jason, it read.

"Spartans this is Captain Mitchell, good luck and good bye."

Nick pushed the throttle to the max as the doors came to a slow halt at the top of its tracks. The ship burst from the hanger and flew directly on an axis toward the incoming U.N.S.C. carrier _Bristole. _The Spartans ship had to get behind it in order to shield it from the pending explosion of the _Anatole's_ reactor.

The captain watched as the Spartan's ship cleared the _Bristole's _bow then looked at his crew one last time and couldn't have been more proud. His eyes moved to the timer in the corner of the view screen and thought as it hit zero.

"God speed Spartans, God speed."

Chapter two 

Jason tightened his grip on his seat as the shock wave hit the ship. The ship rattled back and forth shaking so much that some of the equipments harnesses broke and weapons and ammunition went flying.

"What is the charge on the slipspace capacitor?" Jason asked Nick as the ship stopped shaking.

"87 percent, we will be able to jump in twenty seconds."

Jason plotted out the course for the slipspace jump on the computer in front of him. The computer calculated the trip to take fourteen ours. As Jason went to enter the command the screen scrolled info across his screen.

"Slipspace wake detected, stream accessible, reconfiguration course to intercept advisable."

Jason reconfigured his command and entered the new coordinates. The trips time recalculated and showed the new projected time. Four hours, Jason didn't know whether to be pleased or not. Their ability to piggyback on a slipstream wake meant that the Captain had been right and the Covenant fleet had jumped to Onyx.


	2. Chapter 2

"Slipspace wake detected, stream accessible, reconfiguration course to intercept advisable."

Jason reconfigured his command and entered the new coordinates. The trips time recalculated and showed the new projected time. Four hours, Jason didn't know whether to be pleased or not. Their ability to piggyback on a slipstream wake meant that the Captain had been right and the Covenant fleet had jumped to Onyx.

"Slipspace capacitor charged sir." Nick reported "Slipspace transition in ten seconds."

The stealth craft leapt forward and the stars faded from view as the space around the Black wing tore open. The ship finally made the transition into the warped dimension known as slipspace. The Spartans in the back of the ship left their seats and started to police the equipment that had broken free from their restraints. Nick got out of his seat and went to help the others as the ships computer took over.

Jason leaned forward and typed in a search on the computer in front of him. One file came up and Jason stared at it for a second. He opened the mission folder and started to read it. It looked like a person had hastily typed it because the usual A.I. tidiness was missing from the orders.

Mission: Obelisk

Parameters: Valuable U.N.S.C. personnel MIA on planet code named Onyx. Sentinel infestation has taken over planet surface and lower atmosphere. Covenant fleet numbering 32 ships (various classes ranging from light frigate to heavy carrier) are in high orbit over planets northern polar region. U.N.S.C. fleet of eight ships destroyed by Covenant reinforcements. Rescue of said personnel, mission priority. Forerunner technology must be retrieved if possible. Planet side A.I. reports that Covenant troops may have means to open portal priority targets went through. Retrieval of personnel and forerunner technology must be completed before Covenant forces over run Earth defenses.

Jason sat straighter in his chair. Their orders definitely came from an officer on the _Anatole _but he didn't understand why. He usually received orders from the section 3 black ops A.I. Jason uploaded the file to his suits memory crystals and sent copies to his teammates.

The Spartans all read over the mission file and understood what they needed to do. Jason decided that the best way to get planet side would be to use the drop pod system onboard to get down to the planets north pole. Once there, depending on the opposition they would precede at best speed to find out a way to open the slipspace field.

Stephanie looked at the mission timer, another 30 minutes until they arrived. She got out of her seat and stretched. She replayed the engagement at the Chevron supply base in her head to see if Christian could have been saved. _The covenant rushed us with superior numbers and we fell back. Christian covered their retreat and was hit by a enemy sniper in the head. Nothing could have been done. Everyone did as they were trained to do. _

Jason left the pilot cabin and walked to the weapons cache. He reached down and grabbed a MA5B assault rifle and stowed 10 magazines in his left legs ammo compartment. He placed the assault rifle on his back magnetic grapple. The ship was going to arrive in five minutes and Jason wanted to be ready for anything.

The others followed his example and started picking out their weapons. Jason then went to a grenade crate and loaded up his grenade belt. He walked back to the cabin as Nick's yellow status light clicked on in his H.U.D.

"Sir, the calculations were off by a few minutes. We will be exiting slipspace in one minute."

Jason nodded to Nick and went back into the troop compartment.

"Team, load up and prepare for slipspace exit in T minus 45 seconds."

The Spartans grabbed the last of their gear and returned to their seats. Jason returned to his seat and pulled his harness tight. Nick input a strand of commands and the ships running lights turned off. He then initiated all stealth protocols and turned the engine dampers up to full power.

The ship seemed to freeze and drop as it returned to normal space. When they emerged they were 14,000 km away from the planet. Jason magnified his display in over the planets north pole. Hundreds of Covenant ships launched towards him.

The Black wing seemed to be dead in space. Nick had cut the engines because the ship was already getting plenty of notice from the Covenant armada. The Covenant ships had detected the slipspace field and had grown suspicious. They had already sent out four recon teams to investigate. They had drifted closer to the planet in the five minutes since they had entered the system. The Black wing drifted at a speed that was quite fast for a ship moving without its engines.

They could now see the Covenant fleet clearly without magnification. They were starting to pass under and around Covenant ships. Jason checked his calculations and redid the math one more time to ensure that he was right. They would arrive at the drop point in five minutes.

Jason ran to the back of the ship and grabbed a BR 23 battle rifle and ten clips of ammo. He stored the ammo in his right ammo compartment. He was to be the first one to drop because he had to lead by example. Jason walked to the first drop pod tube and got in. He did one final check of his equipment and armor to ensure everything was in working order. With this done he flashed his green status light one time to tell Nate who was at the pod controls that he was ready. He then looked up at the red light and waited for it to turn green. An agonizingly slow two minutes went bye then the light turned green. Like clock work Jason pulled down the lever and his pod was released from the Black wing.


	3. Chapter 3

Three pods drifted free from the Black wing ten seconds after Jason left the ship. Nate was the last to go. He ran to his pod and prepped it for launch. He quickly typed in orders to have the pod to his right release at the same time his would. He pulled the lever in front of him and the pod detached from the Black wing and slowly drifted away.

They couldn't afford to turn on the engines as they exited the craft or it would have compromised its stealth ability. The six pods drifted towards the planet at a slow pace of 5 m/h. Jason went over the plan one more time infiltrate a Covenant base, find out how to open the gate the U.N.S.C. personnel went through, rescue them and get out alive, all before Earth was overrun.

Jason clicked his mic on and off three times, this was the signal to start the pods afterburners. He waited until three pods passed him on radar then he hit his thrusters to. All six pods raced towards the Planet in a loose formation.

Red warning lights started to scream in Jason's ear as his radar picked up two contacts pulling into a kill spot behind them. The first three-drop pods had just entered the outer atmosphere and Jason would enter it in about ten seconds. He pulled down the monitor in front of him and scrolled it down to a three dimensional image of the rear of the ship.

On screen two pods shot back and fourth as two Seraph fighters chased them. One of the pods launched back at the Seraphs and was singed by some plasma. The second pod then turned and tried the same maneuver. It was struck by two dead on plasma bolts and launched away smoking. Jason knew that Nate had been in one of those two pods. He hoped for the best but expected the worst. The Seraphs pulled off as Jason's pod broke into the atmosphere. Even a Seraph couldn't keep up with an in atmosphere drop pod.

The first three pods and Jason's had made the entrance exactly as they should have but the surviving pod that had attacked the Seraphs spiraled out of control. Jason plotted out their planned landing zone and doubled checked the coordinates. They were going to land at 96 N 76 W. This landing zone was supposed to be full of hostiles but it was the only place that the Sentinels hadn't patrolled.

The reverse thrusters engaged and Jason was pulled tight against his harness. On his tactical display the three pods in front of him had already started to slow down, but the pod behind him just spiraled towards the ground. He tried to raise Nate over his Com but the craft proved too much resistance for a signal to escape from.

Nick, Steph and Spach all prepared for the impact as their ships rocketed towards the ground. Their altimeters ready 5000 feet and their current speeds were about 500 km per hour. At their current speed the landing would kill them, Nick knew he had to engage the secondary reverse thrusters to slow them down enough. He pulled down on the lever and the pod bounced up for a split second then started its descent. The others copied him and their speed dropped to about 300 km per hour. This speed was within parameters for a landing so nick sat leaned back against the backrest.

Jason watched as the surviving pod stopped spiraling and started plummeting towards the ground at upwards of 1000 km per hour. He readied his secondary thruster and hit them as he passed the 5000 ft mark. He hoped that if Nate was in the surviving pod that he had some plan to slow down his descent our his team would be down to four before the mission really even started.

Jason's head turned frantically as alarms sounded again in his ears. His Tac map flashed red as four enemy targets closed on him from below. The display zoomed in and Jason made out four Covenant banshees heading on an intercept course for his slow moving pod. He had to react there was no time to think. He wondered if his reverse thruster would fire again if he turned them off. _Probably not, these things are only made for one trip. _He reached down between his legs and his hand ran over a glass case. _That's it._

Jason shut down all reverse thrusters and punched in the command to overflow the engines. The pod shot forward and started to catch up to the others. He hoped that Nate was in the other pod and was thinking the same thing as him. The four banshees altered their course but Jason knew they wouldn't be fast enough to get them.

He had to be steady though because he had to get the message to the rest of his team. He figured the radios would only work in close proximity. His computer plotted out the time until his pod passed the others. Three seconds he spoke quickly and packed the message into a burst transmission. He sent the message as the timer hit zero and he hoped they had received it.

Nick's alarm started screaming as his radar picked up the four banshees closing in behind them. Jason's pod flew by his pod missing it only by a few feet. Nick opened the transmission Jason had sent him and listened to it.

"Omega team, turn off reverse thrusters. Four Covenant banshees in pursuit. Only possible escape is to speed up. Over flow engines and proceed to landing area at best speed. To counter speed you will try to restart your entire reverse thruster system then you will deploy the ballistic landing gel. Omega one out."

Nick typed in the commands to shut down his reverse thruster and overflow his main engine. The plan was almost a suicide order. Jason had just ordered them to pick up as much speed as possible and then to use a prototype landing gel as their only way of surviving the impact. It didn't matter either way though because Jason was in command and they all trusted him with their lives.

Just as Jason hoped, far below him the surviving pod launched the landing gel. Jason let a small smile cross his face, as he knew for sure that Nate was still alive. He readied his landing to, he checked his Br 23's clip and slid it back into the feed satisfied it was full. He then set his computer to launch the reverse thruster at the last second to possibly slow down the craft before he launched the gel.

Jason grabbed the handrail as the reverse thrusters tried to fire. They never did but they slowed the craft down, which greatly increased his chance of survival. Jason reached down and punched through the glass protecting the button that launched the ballistic gel. He stood back up and bent his knees preparing for the impact as the canister shot from the bottom of the pod towards the ground.

The canister hit three seconds later and burst open into a Jell-O like mound twenty feet deep and twelve feet wide. The pod impacted it two seconds after that and slide into the center slowing down he farther it went until it slammed to a halt as it hit the ground underneath the mound.

The inside of the pod was pitch black, the only light came from sparks that emitted from broken equipment. Jason's H.U.D. automatically switched to night vision and he looked at his surroundings. His head felt like it weighed a ton. His vision was blurry and he couldn't stand up. He tasted the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth. His harness had broken from the impact and he had launched forward into the metal door causing a half-foot dent in it. A siren was screaming in his ears and he realized that his shields were completely empty. He slowly got to his feet and punched the door release with so much force that it broke off.

He stood their holding onto the railing as his shields restored and realized that he wouldn't have been alive if the reverse thrusters hadn't semi fired. The door opened with a loud his and sunlight washed into the pod. Jason leveled his gun and leapt out the door and landed on the ground. All around him the gel was dissolving into nothing. He was ready for an attack and he expected one, but none came. He walked over to a near by tree and lowered himself down slowly.

He checked his bio signs. His blood pressure was a bit high and so was his heart rate but they were all within acceptable parameters. It seemed like he had a concussion to because everything kept spinning to him.


	4. Chapter 4

He stood up and leveled himself against the tree. He could barely stand on his own. He opened a Com link on the U.N.S.C. E band.

"Omega this is Omega one. Pod down at" he looked at his location tag and shook his head. "96 N 77 W. Assemble at my location."

His motion sensor flashed a red dot to his left and he turned with his gun ready. Three grunts led by a jackal walked out from behind some bushed and started making their way towards the drop pod.

Jason didn't want to alert any other Covenant in the area to his presence so he decided to kill the hostiles without his gun. He slowly crept up behind the jackal as it passed his position and grabbed its neck. The creature tried to make a noise as Jason lifted it from the ground and snapped its neck but no sound escaped.

The three grunts started digging through the inside of the craft unaware of Jason's presence. He ran to the entrance of the pod and lobbed a frag grenade inside and slammed the door shut. There was a quiet thump that escaped the pod but it wasn't loud enough for anyone near by to hear. Jason's vision started to clear a few seconds after this.

He ran to the tree line and crouched down in a few bushes and readied himself for any other enemies who might show up. After ten minutes of nothing Jason saw movement on the other side of the pod. He slowly moved his reticule over the area the unknown was coming from and waited. Ten seconds later a blur crossed his vision to the right of his reticule. He clicked his mic two times and waited. Five seconds later the four-click response was signaled. He waved his hand in front of the bush to show them he was there and waited.

Nick and Spach slowly crept from the bushes and walked into the open. Jason waited making sure it was all clear then started to get up. His back collided with a hand and he instinctively tried to kick the person's legs out. The thing jumped over his feet and landed ready for another attack. Jason looked up and saw Nate standing there with his nonchalant stance.

Jason handed him his hand and Nate helped him up. Jason was happy to see that he was all right. They then walked to the others and Jason opened a Com link to them.

"We will hold here until Stephanie arrives. If she doesn't arrive in ten then we are moving out." He didn't want to leave her behind if he could but if she wasn't there in ten minutes then he knew that she wasn't coming. Just as Jason started to turn away a laser crossed his field of vision and he paused. He turned his head swiftly and locked eyes with Stephanie. She was holding her rifle in front of her ready to fire.

Stephanie ran over to them and they gave each other a warm welcome or at least it was as far as Spartans go. Jason then raised his hand and pointed to the north and pulled his fist down and started walking in that direction. The others formed up into a loose triangle behind him and started following him. Nate ran in front of him and started to scout the way.

Nate was on point and Nick was on rear guard, this made Jason comfortable because he knew that they were best at those positions. Nothing would be getting by them without them knowing. They ran towards an alcove of rocks and slid in behind them. Spach pulled from her back their long-range uplink system and placed it in front of her on the ground. She quickly established a link with two stealth satellites in high orbit over the planets northern hemisphere.

"Up link connected, scanning the region for a Covenant base. I've got one close enough that we can get there in five minutes."

Jason looked at her and asked one question. "Is there a Covenant ship hovering over that base?"

Spach looked up and said. "Yes, a Covenant Light cruiser. They currently are unloading supplies via a grav lift."

Jason nodded; this is exactly what he wanted. They would board the Covenant ship and use the infiltration software that Nick had to obtain the info on the doorway. Now all they had to do was get to the ship and board it without getting into a massive engagement. Jason knew that they couldn't win in an all out war. The first rule of engagement when facing a superior enemy is to hit him with all ones force when he least expects it. This is exactly what he was planning to do.

Spach picked up her long range up link system and placed it on her back. Nate ran off in the direction of the base and Jason started to follow him slowly. The team formed back into its formation and cautiously moved out. Four minutes latter and Nate reported in over the radio.

"Omega 2 to Omega actual."

"Go ahead." Jason said

"Sir, the terrain ahead is thick with foliage. There is a Covenant excavation going on. I can't tell what they seem to be digging up but I don't think it will be good for us if we stray to close. The camp looks heavily defended. I only see one way in and I don't think your going to like it."

At that moment a tiny video feed appeared in Jason's H.U.D. He increased the size to half of his H.U.D. the video showed a huge octahedral shaped area that had been cleared of trees. Circling the perimeter of the camp were twelve plasma turrets manned by grunts. Near by he saw a group of ten elites standing around. The grav lift was in the middle of the camp and there were a couple dozen grunts off loading it as supplies were lowered down.

"Omega 2, what way in do you see?" Jason said.

"Look closely at the twelve turrets."

Jason did and he finally saw what he was talking about. In the turret off to the right the grunt was sleeping. They might be able to move up along that side of the base then remote detonate an explosive off to the left. This would give them the necessary distraction to get to the lift.

Spach grabbed his arm and tugged slightly. Jason turned around and she was looking at the sky. He followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at. Overhead the sky erupted with explosions. As if reading Jason's thoughts Spach dropped to one knee and set up the up link system. On the screen it showed the Covenant fleet fighting one another. They seemed to break into two sides and started to fire. Jason wondered what the hell they were up to and as if to answer his question the satellite picked up a communication in the open.

The translation software instantly converted it. It said, "My brothers the Jiralhanae have severed any peace that could have been established. Let your weapons fly and destroy them."

Jason knew that the Covenant had fractured because he had seen Brutes and Elites fighting against each other on Earth. It seemed to him that the Brutes had come offering a truce with the Elites but he guessed that from the light show the Brutes had tricked them.

The space above the planet started to fill with crisscrossing plasma. Jason turned his head and knew they had no time. The light Cruiser was already preparing for take off.

"Nick go place a detonation charge in those trees over there. Everyone else move towards that turret now."

Jason led the group in as fast as he could. The only way in was through that sleeping grunt, but if it woke up they would have to resort to a full frontal assault and given the circumstances Jason did not have the time or the personnel to engage a superior enemy and get on the cruiser before it left.

Nate knelt and raised his sniper rifle. He was the best shot they had and he had to be able to take the grunt in the turret out quickly if it woke up. The rest of the team was 50 feet away now. It was just open ground between them and the camp now.

"Sir, explosives armed and ready." Nick reported over the Com channel.

"Get to our position and detonate them." Jason said back.

Nate turned and watched the Elites to see what they were up to. The group that had been standing around on duty now moved with a purpose. All six of them ran towards the right side of the base. Nate moved his sight back to Omega team. Nick had just gotten there and they already passed the turret. Spach slit the Grunts throat and tossed it aside. Nate then zoomed out and saw that the group of Elites turned around a corner and were running directly toward the rest of the team.

Jason slowly crept forward with his assault rifle leveled in front of him. He leaned around the corner in front of him and came face to face with a Covenant Elite. Jason dove back and her heard the crack of a sniper rifle. The Elite in front of him fell to the ground with a hole in its head.  
"Sir, Elite team moving in on you. That wasn't one of them. I suggest you blow the explosives now and get to the lift."

Jason opened the channel. "We are moving out now give us cover for 30 seconds then join us."

A green acknowledgement light went on in Jason's helmet. He turned to Nick and nodded. Nick sent the detonation codes and a huge explosion rocked the other side of the base. They all ran as the smoke started to rise into the air.

"Jason, the ship is leaving we need to get there now!" Spach said.

"Just keep moving."

They ran into the center of the camp and six Elites turned a corner and opened fire on them. They all kept running and one by one the Elites dropped dead with a hole in the side of their heads. Jason's shields flared as an energy blast caught him in the stomach. He pulled a grenade and lobbed it at the two grunts hiding behind a container. They jumped onto the lift and Nick hit the lift command.

Jason sent Nate a quick order. "Your staying behind, only attack when nessisarily. Stay safe."

Jason expected heavy opposition when they reached the top so he was thankful for the fact that the Elites and Grunts on the ground hadn't drained their shields to badly.


End file.
